The very first human Goku came across (apart from his grandpa) at the start of the series. One could say she's the trigger that kicks off the series as a whole. Originally on a quest to gather the Dragon Balls for her own reason (to wish for a perfect boyfriend), Bulma gets dragged into the craziness that comes along with the search. Even when the quest is finished, she still keeps close ties with Goku and his friends and helps out whenever possible. Which, considering she's a mechanical whiz, is quite often.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair (when it is not grey or green) is lavender purple in the manga (same with Bra). And now you know where the hell Trunks' hair color came from. (Well, her dad has lavender hair, too.)

A recursive dye job, in Path to Power Bulma has purple hair like in the manga.

Anger Born of Worry: Bulma tends to express her fears and worries for the protagonists' safety with eruptive rage. Goku, Vegeta, and especially Yamcha were the most common targets. A good example can be seen here.

Baleful Polymorph: The Ginyu Frog incident in Z. It's not exactly polymorphing (It's actually body changing), but it serves the same effect.

There was also the time the Rabbit Boss turned her into a carrot in the original series.

Bathing Beauty: Early in the series, she is shown to have a love for taking bubble baths and often a bath is the first thing she desires when stranded in the wilderness. They call back to this in Dragon Ball Z by giving her another bubble bath scene while she is hiding out in a capsule house on Namek.

Ditzy Genius: Especially in the English dub. She's a brilliant inventor, but still girly and continues acting like a teenage girl well into the series.

Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Her treatment of Yamcha in their past relationship wouldn't be acceptable if the genders were reversed. Basically Bulma has been known to hit and yell at Yamcha for girls he hasn't met being attracted to him!

Jerkass/Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Never quite matured past her selfish teenage girl phase. She gets a lot better, but she never truly loses that bratty part of her personality.

Lost in Translation: The way Bulma calls Goku in Japanese, she mostly calls him Son (Son-kun), although that's his family name, she calls him that way to show how close and familiar she is with him while the rest of the cast calls him appropriately Goku; Bulma referring to Goku as Son in English would make many children scratch their heads in confusion, so it was completely dropped in the English localization, and curiously in some other countries as well. The English manga did keep this in some instances, though.

Manipulative Bitch: When she convinces Goku to help her find the rest of the Dragon Balls, she deliberately neglects to tell him that the balls scatter after the wish is made.

She actually said it, but she didn't exactly tell him that the balls scattered after the wish is made.

Morality Pet: To Yamcha in the Pilaf Saga and then Vegeta in the Buu Saga.

Ms. Fanservice: The Playboy Bunny suit being one of the earliest examples. To take it further, she's the only female character to appear naked in the entire series.

Never My Fault: In GT's Shadow Dragon Saga, when everyone blames Bulma for the latest crisis because she made the Dragon Radar and completely nullified the "scatter long enough for the negative energy to disperse" safety measure, Bulma quickly shifts the blame onto Goku by stating that she never could have found the balls without him. Sure, never mind that Goku had absolutely no idea what the Dragon Balls even were before he met Bulma!

Adding to that, what Bulma did was a complete accident. She wasn't expecting the crisis to happen, so while her blaming Goku was wrong, it wouldn't be right to act as though Bulma did it all on purpose.

Proud Beauty: She thinks the reason she couldn't ride the Nimbus was because she was "so beautiful it's a sin". Yep, she counts.

Really Gets Around: Whether she actually succeeds in this is up to the individual viewer, but she certainly tries; even when she's dating Yamcha, she's prepared to dump him at the drop of a hat for Jackie Chun and General Blue, before they turn out to be old and evil, respectively (that Blue is also gay hinders things as well). Whether she cheated on Yamcha with Vegeta, or Yamcha cheated on her causing her to go to Vegeta, is one of the fandom's Base Breakers. However, she appears to be completely loyal to Vegeta after Trunks' birth, finally falling into the Happily Married trope.

She also at one point fell for, you guessed it, Goku, when she saw He's All Grown Up. It's just too bad he got engaged on the same day...

Smoking Is Cool: Late into her adult life... being the wife of Vegeta would be stressful, after all.

However, Future Bulma is also smoking, despite only briefly hooking up with Future Vegeta. Though, it's likely that she's also extremely stressed out after the loss of her lover and friends.

Sole Surviving Scientist: Her future counterpart invented a time machine to send Trunks to the past and find a way to kill the androids.

Greater Need Than Mine: She wanted to make an alternate timeline where things could be happy and peaceful, even if she couldn't be a part of it.

Spoiled Brat: She has spades of this, especially early in the series. She's somewhat grown out of this as she got older, although it still pops up from time to time, even after having Trunks and Bulla.

Teen Genius: She designed a portable Dragon Ball-detecting radar at the tender age of 16. She loses the teen part over the course of the series, but keeps the genius part.

The Team Benefactor: She and her father provide the heroes with all their high-tech needs — spacecraft, time machines, updated Saiyan armor, etc.

The Team Normal: Of the original five (Goku, Yamcha, Paur, Oolong, and herself), she is the only one with no powers. This remains such throughout the series. Her intellect, on the other hand, is sometimes on par with the guys' insane power levels.

Token Girl: During Dragon Ball, she was the only girl who would journey around.

Unfazed Everyman: Despite seeing powerful enemies that can blow up planets, she doesn't see it as a big deal and calmly goes about her techy business until really strange or out-of-this-world happens. Not even Vegeta's temper-tantrums faze her.

Especially so during the Androids saga, where she seems even more unfazed than the heroes themselves at all the powerful villains going around. She even actively follows the heroes when Freezer shows up again, just because she wants to catch a glimpse of him.

Vitriolic Best Buds: Goku (mostly as a child) in Dragon Ball. Also Chichi, though mostly in the English dub.

Weirdness Magnet: Especially in the first story arc of the original Dragon Ball. By the end of her journey to collect the Dragon Balls, she made friends with a monkey-tailed boy, a perverted old man, an equally perverted pig, and a desert bandit and his floating cat. Her circle of friends continued to get weirder.

Goku's first mentor. A hermit whose home is located on a small island in the middle of the ocean. Very strong (at least at the start of the series) and with a keen eye. Also very perverted and usually hits on any pretty tail that comes his way.

Can't Catch Up: He retires from fighting during the second tournament arc, admitting that the new generation is both stronger and no longer needs his guidance. During later story arcs he expresses frustration at not being able to help during the major fights. Though, considering how strong Freeza, Cell and especially both Buu and Beers were, he wouldn't had a chance.

Casting Gag: He looks like God from Dr Slump with sunglasses, and was also voiced by the same person (Kouhei Miyauchi).

Chick Magnet: He's perfectly capable of getting women if he wanted to. As Jackie Chun, girls even asked for his autograph before his fight with Man-Wolf.

Clark Kenting: His disguise of Jackie Chun involves taking off his shades and putting on a wig. Only Yamcha saw through it until Kame tricked him.

A Day in the Limelight: The second DBZ movie, The World's Strongest, gave him a pretty big role, helping Goku and friends fight against Dr. Wheelo.

Demoted to Extra: In Z and GT to ridiculous degrees like everyone else. By the time Dragon Ball Z rolls around, the only purpose he really serves is just having a house for all the characters to frequently meet up at inbetween fights or for the non-fighting characters to wait around at while watching tv.

Doting Parent: Whenever Master Roshi spends quality time with young Goku and Krillin (such as eating with them, playing with them and teaching them how to read and write) and whenever he affectionately pats their heads in praise. For the both now-adult warriors, he is the closest thing they have to a father. Especially for Krillin, as he ends up living with Roshi through the rest of the series (even when he gets married and has a kid!).

Mentor Occupational Hazard: Sacrifices his life to try and reseal King Piccolo, only for the attempt to fail. He does get resurrected later, although by that point has role as mentor has been passed to other characters.

Too Dumb to Live: During a plane ride in the Buu Saga, he crashes into Android 18's chest and nuzzles it causing her to angrily grab his head and twist it, so what does he do? He grabs her breasts and smiles. You know, he copped a feel on a woman who was stronger than Freeza and could destroy a mack truck while it's in motion with one hand while she has his head in a vicegrip. Yeah, even for a pervert like him, this is still incredibly stupid.

Wax On, Wax Off: His method of training includes having his students work by delivering milk by foot at the break of dawn, then sowing fields with their bare hands, then helping out at a construction site, all the while wearing heavy turtle shells on their backs. And boy, does it pay off.

Wouldn't Hit a Girl: He is habitually beaten by the majority of the female cast, and he never makes any effort to fight back. He just takes the beatings. He is a creepy old hermit, but still....

Yamcha was a desert bandit, Bulma's first love, and Goku's first rival. Even in the original series, Yamcha was often used as the primary victim of the Worf Effect, hardly winning any important fights despite being one of the most powerful protagonists. By Z he was pretty much a target to show how tough the villains were, so much so that around the Buu Saga he gave up fighting entirely (except for fillers in which he somehow defeated enemies even Goku had trouble with a few years before).

Yamcha was the series' originator for a lot of the tropes and quirks that would later be popularized by characters like Krillin, Tenshinhan, Piccolo, and Vegeta. The Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy, rival-turned-friend, Butt Monkey, Mr. Exposition, and "bad boy" roles these characters fulfill all started with him. Even Gohan and Future Trunks draw from him: they both inherited his shy awkwardness, sword fighting, and long-haired character designs.

Accidental Pervert: Quite lots in earlier chapters of the manga, when his fear of women is still intact, no less. Such as when he accidentally watched Bulma take a bath and likely touched Bulma's boobs when she was naked while sleeping.

Adaptational Badass: He fares either worse or better in the anime. Yamcha does more in anime only battles and situations, but sometimes he comes off better in the manga's version of events (an example of this is Yamcha had no trouble holding down Great Ape Goku in the manga).

Yamcha usually has an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy moment every time he gets a large increase in power from training. Perhaps this trait of his was finally lost during his fight against Shen in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. Coming into the match, Yamcha was absolutely sure of his victory, but after being embarrassed by some of Shen's moves, Shen chastises Yamcha for his arrogance, saying that Yamcha's overconfidence on his own strength as well as his opponent's appearance made him blind to the subtlety of Shen's attacks. After listening to Shen's lecture, Yamcha seemed to have wised up, even managing to land a good hit on Shen before losing, and becomes a lot more focused and dependable on the fights that followed.

Art Evolution: During most of the original Dragon Ball series, Yamcha had small eyes that were shaped similar to Tenshinhan's eyes. It wasn't until the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai that his eyes started looking more like Goku's.

Badass: He's not a bad fighter at the end of the day, but he gets overshadowed by the stronger fighters around him.

Barbarian Longhair: His most frequent hairstyle. He mentioned his short haircut was at Bulma's request (Goku couldn't even recognize him when he first showed up with his new 'do) and could be considered an example of him trying to change from an outlaw in the desert to ordinary citizen in the city.

Becoming the Mask: He initially assisted Goku and the others in gathering the Dragon Balls with the intention of stealing them once they got all seven. It wasn't until the events at Pilaf's castle that him and Puar became friends with them for real.

Bishōnen: Yamcha's been described as "good looking in a boyish sort of way" and "a pretty boy." Very slightly lessened after he gets his scars.

Big Damn Heroes: Saves Goku when he was being pummeled by the Rabbit Mob who held Bulma hostage. Also invoked in the same arc, when Yamcha lends the stranded heroes a ride, as part of his plan.

Breaking the Fourth Wall: In both metaphorical AND literal sense of break. In the 8th chapter of manga Son Goku sends Yamcha in the air with his punch but Yamcha breaks and bounces off the frame's border back to the ground. See for yourself.

Butt Monkey: Has it worse than Krillin, from his first appearance it was always something of a Running Gag that Yamcha was unlucky. And while he puts up a fight, he NEVER gets past the first round of the tournament (an exception being in Mystical Adventure).

He never even gets to fight Vegeta and Nappa with the others; he gets distracted and killed off by a Suicide Attack of a seemingly dead Saibaman beforehand, Power Level guides say Yamcha would've won too if he hadn't let his guard down. He also gets badly injured by Dr. Gero right at the start of the Android Saga. Oh, and then his girlfriend has Vegeta's baby. Poor guy just can't catch a break.

Cannot Talk to Women: Used to be like this to such a degree that he couldn't even be a around women without freaking out. After a while of being around Bulma in the Pilaf Saga, particularly an incident where he picked her up to get her to safety, Yamcha mostly got over his phobia. Though he sometimes still does show some nervous around beautiful women.

Can't Catch Up: Yamcha retires from fighting after the Cell Saga. He Lampshades it himself when, unlike Krillin, he decides to forgo participating in the 25th World Tournament.

Combat Commentator/Mr. Exposition: Yamcha's apparently read up on all of the local legends and famous martial artists: he's able to identify Goku's bo staff, Master Roshi, Grandpa Gohan, Ox-King, and the rabbit boss. He even knew that Roshi was the one who trained Gohan and Ox King, and that the two of them were best friends.

Centipede's Dilemma: Inverted. He thought he was cursed with the inability to talk to or even be around women, and for that reason, once he learned about the existence of the Dragon Balls, he decided to use them to wish away his fear of women. Much to his surprise, by the end of a long period of time where he was forced to be around Bulma, Yamcha learned that his fear of women was all in his head, and that it was only when he consciously invoked it on himself that he felt uncomfortable around women. Shortly afterwards, he and Bulma started dating.

Determinator: Yamcha's pretty eager to fight most of the time, he eagerly volunteered to fight King Piccolo when his leg was broken. Until he goes down against #20, at which point he calls it quits (he still tags along with the others at the Cell Games, but only sits at the sidelines).

Deus Angst Machina: Yamcha and Bulma's breakup was never explained, though this was mostly due to Toriyama's disinterest in romance and romantic relationships.

Dub Text: Funimation changes his dialogue more than most characters. For example Bulma being mad at Yamcha for canceling a date due to being broke, became him taking another girl out to a concert in the dub. Even in Kai, Funimation changed a line of Yamcha saying he's got to help Goku with "I'll be there" to "I'll just watch".

Perhaps one of the most cruel cases happens in the Lookout, as Bulma fondly remembers Goku. Chi-Chi teases her, saying that Bulma is in love with Goku, but she should give up, because Chi-Chi is prettier. Yamcha then says that Chi-Chi looks very pretty today, which makes Chi-Chi upset, because that implies that she doesn't always look pretty. In the Dub Text, Chi-Chi suggests that, since Bulma likes Goku so much, they should trade husbands: Bulma gets Goku and Chi-Chi gets Vegeta. Yamcha then says that he is available, to which Chi-Chi responds that she wants an even trade, not a downgrade (though he appeared to take her comment as the friendly joke it was intended to be).

Easily Forgiven: Yamcha is generally shown as pretty forgiving, possibly due to being bad once himself. When Tenshinhan apologizes for breaking his leg, he just shrugs and says its nothing.

Once he stopped trying to prove he was better than Vegeta, they seemed to get along pretty well. He's even paid the prince a genuine compliment once or twice.

Hilariously, at one point, Tenshinhan criticizes Yamcha for making nice with Vegeta.

Enemy Mine: When they were still ostensibly enemies, he helped Goku against the Rabbit Mob.

The Everyman: He is perhaps one of the most relatable characters among the Z warriors. For instance, he is commonly seen wearing outfits other than his combat gear and he has been shown driving vehicles like sky cars and airships instead of flying everywhere like most of the other characters. He also has grounded interests like romance, sports and is actually concerned with having money, as opposed to most of the other protagonists, who do not seem to work at all and spend most of their time training. A notable example of how normal he is happens at the end of the Cell Saga, when the other protagonists are struggling to think of one last wish to be granted by Shenron. Yamcha suggests that, since nobody else could think of any important uses for that wish, they should wish for something for themselves, like lots of money. The other characters silently stare at him as if shocked that he would ever as much as consider using one of the wishes for purposes that are not altruistic. In response, Yamcha timidly apologizes and agrees to leave the last wish to Krillin.

Failure Hero: In Z Yamcha seldom wins clear victories outside of fillers (and never important ones). Though he's had his moments in filler.

Fighting with Chucks: Uses a three section staff at one point in the Legend of Shen Long. Yamcha is also seen holding Nun chucks in the anime version of the King Piccolo arc.

Graceful Loser: Was polite and respectful to Jackie Chun and Kami when they beat him in the World Tournament. He was the first to clap when Tenshinhan decided to turn over a new leaf.

He's also very friendly to Trunks, his ex's son. They're shown watching TV together and Yamcha is the one who tells him about Vegeta's reaction to his death.

Genre Savvy: Yamcha eventually realizes that he reallyCan't Catch Up when he nearly gets killed by Android 20 and from then on stops trying to take center stage, giving up fighting after the Cell Saga.

Kamehame Hadoken: He was the second student to learn it, though he doesn't use it much.

Prophet Eyes: His eyes turn totally white when he uses the many of his moves like the Wolf Fang Fist.

The Lancer: Sometimes holds this role, mainly in the absence of Krillin.

Love Martyr: Explained to Puar, this was basically why he puts up with Bulma's mistreatment in Dragon Ball.

Like Brother and Sister: He maintained a close relationship with Bulma after their breakup. Even telling Future Trunks about Vegeta going Papa Wolf on Cell to make him feel better.

Martial Arts Uniform: After he begins training under Roshi for the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, he adopts the same uniform as Goku and Krillin, but like Krillin only wears it when actively training or fighting.

Really Gets Around: According to Future Trunks, this is the reason Bulma eventually left him for Vegeta in that timeline. What's ironic is that Yamcha was initially extremely shy around girls at the start of the series and said he wanted to get married.

Redemption Demotion: Yamcha generally remained useful in Dragon Ball and in the first arc he and Puar actually saved everyone from Great Ape Goku. In "'Z'' Yamcha was really only useful for distracting villains or taking care of wounded characters.

Retired Badass: After the Cell Games. However, in the anime OVA special, he reveals that he still wears his fighting gi under his suit, suggesting that he still misses fighting.

The Rival: The very first one. Back then, he teamed up with Goku to save Bulma from Monster Carrot.

Taking the Bullet: Ever since his Heel-Face Turn, Yamcha has been shown as willing to sacrifice himself for his friends. In one of the movies, he even painfully catches a boulder about to crush Bulma. His Saibaman death was actually the result of him volunteering ahead to protect Krillin from a second and final death.

Training from Hell: Yamcha had been shown to go through this alot of the time, particularly when the date for the World Martial Arts Tournament nears. For the first tournament Yamcha trained alone in the wilderness for a month, the second time with Krillin under Roshi, and the third was for three straight years.

True Companions: Yamcha seemed to have become this for real with the gang when in Pilaf's desert oven. Even getting distressed when Ape Goku was attacked, hard to believe earlier he was planning to beat up Goku to steal the Dragon Balls.

Took a Level in Badass: In Filler, at least, Yamcha sometimes does better. He defeated Recoome, a guy who beat Vegeta to within an inch of his life, while training on King Kai's planet. While training in the Other World along with Krillin, he also defeated some of the top fighters in the tournament that Goku had won while he was there.

Weak, but Skilled: Yamcha's Spirit Ball is the first fully controllable ki attack shown in the series. While Yamcha was beaten handily by the powerful Shen in the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, he managed to show his combat smarts by, after failing to hit Shen with his Spirit Ball, he made the energy ball travel underground and erupt under Shen's chin, catching him off guard. Shen even complimented Yamcha on his skills after the battle.

He was the second student of the Turtle School to master the Kamehameha and surprised everyone by showing this in the 22nd Budokai.

The Worf Effect: Save for Vegeta, no other character got hit with this more. Yamcha suffers from this as early as Dragon Ball, always losing in his first round in the three world tournaments he participates in to show how powerful Jackie Chun, Tenshinhan, and Hero/Shen/Kami are, despite his training. By the time Z came around, Yamcha was the first to fall in the Saiyan Arc and again in the Android Saga.

Would Hit a Girl/Would Hurt a Child: Zigzagged, In Dragon Ball, he is forced to knock out Kid Chi-Chi when she attacks him. On the other hand, Yamcha seems unable to strike a beautiful girl in Legend of Shen Long.

X Marks the Hero: After the three year timeskip at the end of Dragon Ball he gets an X shaped scar on his cheek.

One of the few human characters who retained most of their screentime even in DBZ (even though it was mostly as a Plucky Comic Relief and by few we mean the only one). Started off as a rival to Goku when both trained under Master Roshi when they were kids. He soon became a best friend and Heterosexual Life Partner to Goku and the two have been through thick and thin through their battles and lives.

Awesome but Impractical: His signature move, Destructo Disk, can cut through anything (except Cell...) and is completely unblockable, but it's slow to produce, its aim is unwieldy, and it can't be guided once launched. And the few times he has an opening to actually use it, he tends to ruin it by Calling His Attacks.

Back from the Dead: Just about everyone did this but Krillin is notable for being the first main character to do so and is tied with Chiaotzu for most deaths in the manga.

Badass: Not on the same level as the Saiyans, but he's the strongest human in the cast.

Bald of Awesome: Until the Buu Saga, anyways. Since childhood, he had been shaving his head, thinking great warriors like Roshi did that (well, that and the fact he had left a Shaolin-like temple to train under Roshi). He was embarrassed to learn that Roshi was naturally bald.

Butt Monkey/The Chew Toy: He died the first major death in the entire series. Many more would follow. He even lampshades this in the film Super Android 13 by shouting "Why does this always happen to me?!" while being knocked away by Vegeta's unconscious body. He also lampshades it much earlier in the second movie after pointing out how every attempt he made to hit Dr Wheelo ended in humiliating failure.

Can't Catch Up: Started out as the The Rival, fell further behind with each new storyline, although remaining very important.

Character Development: While he wasn't purehearted enough to ride the Nimbus at the beginning of the series, he's more than worthy of it now. Shown when he was able to hold and throw the Spirit Bomb, something that only those with pure heart could do.

Child Prodigy: A Down Played exampled. He never was as talented as Goku, who's is a Human Alien from a fighting race, but compared to other humans he was an exceptional strong child. He was able to survived Master Roshi training regiment and would have been second only only to Goku in the 21st Martial Arts Tournament if Master Roshi didn't entered. He also learned the Kamehameha on the fly with no prior training at the age of sixteen when it took his master fifty years to developed it. The only things that really held Krillin back was his lack of self-esteem, which was an effect of the bullying he received from the monks at his former temple, and his occasional bouts of arrogance.

Combat Pragmatist: Initially started out like this, using a pair of panties as a distraction against Jackie Chun/Master Roshi, asking Chiaotzu basic math questions to disrupt his psychic powers, and attempting to exploit Goku's Achilles' Heel by grabbing his tail during their fight in the Tournament. It's turned Up to Eleven in Z, where he takes on foes many times stronger than him with just his guts and less on dirty tactics.

Heel-Face Turn: Krillin was started out as a bullying rival of Goku but became his best friend.

Henpecked Husband: Shows shades of this in Bio Broly. Also, throughout the series, he's shown to be the obviously submissive one in his relationship with Android 18.

Heroic Sacrifice: He attacks Buu first to allow his family and friends to escape his onslaught on the lookout. While it fails for almost everyone, it allows Dende, whose survival was most important as it allows the Dragon Balls to work, to survive.

Informed Ability: Supplemental material has stated that Krillin the strongest human character in the series. Ignoring the Can't Catch Up tendency for all the non-Saiyan characters, Tien had the better showings in fights in the series, although Tien has been confirmed to be part alien from Word of God, so Krillin is the strongest pure human.

Let's Get Dangerous: When he has these moments, Krillin is capable of surprisingly kickass things, and gets the drop on the the Big Bad of the arc, more than once. For example, briefly fending off Nappa from Gohan and almost killing him with the Destructo Disk, cutting Frieza's tail off in his second form with the same move, and in the anime saving a young woman and her little brother from Imperfect Cell by ramming into him.

Martial Arts Uniform: Initially wearing the uniform of his old Shaolin school, Krillin adopts the Turtle Hermit School uniform at the same time as Goku, though he keeps his old one as a spare/casual wear for a while.

The Rival: Hell, his introductory episode was even called "Goku's Rival", though the two went from rivals to best friends fairly quickly.

Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He kills three Saibaman with his Scattering Bullet special attack when Yamcha died to protect him. Goku always has one when Krillin dies.

Robosexual: Played with. He marries Android 18... but that's A) a limitation of English in the translation, as the original "Jinzou-Ningen" doesn't specify mechanical or biological artificiality, and B) she and her brother were originally humans before being modified by Gero, thus allowing 18 to have a daughter.

Signature Move: Destructo Disk, although he is hardly the only user of it....

Skintone Sclerae: While a staple of the early Toriyama style, he's the only major character to keep this trait. Interestingly, his earliest depiction didn't include them consistently.

The Smart Guy: This is what keeps him in the game until the end of the Freeza arc.

Spell My Name with an "S": Oh, let us count the ways... Krillin (Funimation), Kuririn (Viz, also the literal transliteration), Kulilin (wears hats with this on it in the manga), Klilyn (most Bandai toys and in some cel art by Toei)...

Despite his name having been spelt as "Kulilin" in the manga, the name "Kuririn" involves a play on "kuri", the Japanese word for "chestnut" (this is joked about, with reference to his bald head, at one stage) - likely, "Kulilin" is the result of liberal transliteration of Japanese ("l" and "r" sounds are indistinct), and "Krillin" is supposed to be an adaptation that is better suited for the foreign palate. (Incidentally, you can buy and eat 'krill' with a bit of difficulty, so it keeps the theme naming going.)

Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: While not ugly, he is kind of schlubby and baby -faced. That said, he is average looking compared to Android 18.

Vocal Dissonance: Like Goku, Gohan, Goten and Yajirobe, he is voiced by a woman even in his adult stage.

Warrior Monk: Was originally a student at a Shaolin temple, until he got tired of the other students picking on him for being so small, and decided to train under Roshi instead.

We Are Team Cannon Fodder: Subverted. Yes, he's part of Team Cannon Fodder, but Krillin always gets a few good hits in against the villain of the day, and he doesn't lose his importance as a character until the Buu arc.

Weak, but Skilled: This is his hat. Not having nowhere near as much raw strength or ki, he is a seriously cunning fighter. He ran rings around Nappa and Freeza when they tried to kill Gohan, and played a major part in the battle with Vegeta.

He's the first non-Tsuru-style student on Earth to learn how to fly (on his own, though with some idea of how it's done). More notable is that he managed to develop a technique that could seriously wound or kill an opponent easily a hundred times his strength. He just rarely hits anyone with it.

He's able to fire off the Genki-dama/Spirit Bomb (Goku collected the Genki) with some accuracy, though it wasn't enough to do in Vegeta.

During their "image training" on the way to Namek, when Krillin compliments Gohan on his strength, Gohan tells him he was surprised by just how many different techniques Krillin threw at him.

Even in the Cell Saga when stakes quickly became so high he was outmatched, he still kept his importance due to his skills at observation and resourcefulness - when things look their bleakest, Krillin is often the one to point out something important or give a pragmatic plan of action.

In the GBA Game Supersonic Warrior, he's forced to be Earth's champion when Goku ends up succumbing to the heart virus despite Trunks coming to the past. Turns out, "weak but skilled" means he has the best Ki control among the Z Warriors - since he has to keep up with superhumans and aliens, who simply have more of it than he does, he's had to use it wisely - and he's up to the task of merely protecting Earth. And yes, this game includes the Buu arc...

Specifically, he stops Super Saiyan Vegeta from destorying 18 before Taking A Level In Badass when Goku gets his free day of life from Baba and he learns Kaioken and the Spirit Bomb. He ends up defeating Perfect Cell singlehandedly before defeating Majin Buu with a well-timed Kamehameha.

Introduced in the second World Martial Arts Tournament arc, Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu were initially rivals to Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha (as they belonged to an opposing dojo to Roshi's). The two eventually become friends to our heroes after realizing the lack of honor in their own methods. They become instrumental in the the next few arcs following their introduction, but by Z their roles had become less and less till they were reduced to cameo appearances and a few references in Dragon Ball GT.

Aloof Ally: Spends majority of the Buu Saga training in isolation with Chiaotzu.

Ambiguously Human: He's never presented as anything but human, but he does have a third eye and unique abilities. There are much more human-seeming aliens throughout the series.

Word of God stated that Tien is a descendant of a three-eyed clan of aliens that arrived on Earth.

Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Tenshinhan was one of these before he became one of the heroic characters. While most Dragon Ball villains are this to a certain extent, Tenshinhan is the most clear example of it as afterwards the villains are all Aliens, Demons, Androids, and Genies. He was likely the Trope Codifier of an Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy for anime.

Bond Villain Stupidity: In his fight against Goku during the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, Tenshinhan, who was starting to feel overpowered by Goku's tremendous stamina and having several of his techniques outdone by Goku's very own, ingenuously decided that, if he could not knock Goku unconscious or push him out of the platform, he would simply destroy the entire platform; that way, Goku would lose by ring out because there would be no platform left to stand on. Tenshinhan, who possesses the ability to fly, did not have that problem. He managed to destroy the platform with his powerful Tri-Beam attack, but instead of simply waiting for Goku, who had jumped very high to escape the blast, to hit the ground, Tenshinhan decided to fly close to him, accompanying Goku as he fell down, in order to gloat about his inevitable victory. That opened an opportunity for Goku to use one last attack that knocked Tenshinhan unconscious, and now both fighters were falling to the ground. Subverted because Tenshinhan, by a stroke of luck, actually won the fight, but he was likely in worse physical condition than Goku by the end of it.

In the manga he's a bit smarter, he intended to stay where he was and watch Goku fall, but Goku reacted quickly.

Broken Pedestal: Tenshinhan idolized the assassin Taopaipai, until he realized Taopaipai had no honor.

Cannot Tell a Joke: He did manage a joke. Once. But it took rigorous discipline and concentration.

Can't Catch Up: He lasted a little longer then Yamcha and Krillin and was still useful after he fell behind though.

Cast From HP: Tenshinhan's Tri-Beam drains its user's life and will kill him if he uses it too much. On the plus side, attacks that use life force, such at this one, far exceed the potential of ki attacks. He kept Semi-Perfect Cell in check with it (it didn't actually cause any damage, but Cell couldn't move until he stopped using it).

Characterization Marches On/Character Development: Upon his introduction, Tenshinhan is an arrogant fighter who enjoys taunting and mocking his opponents, and even has a somewhat acid sense of humor, like when, after an accidentally humorous and rather embarrassing exchange between Roshi's students, Tenshinhan mockingly suggests that comedy must be one of the disciplines taught at the Kame school of martial arts. Once he changes sides, Tenshinhan became a lot more serious and composed, rarely smiling and so humorless that he is shown struggling to tell a simple joke. That's likely because his earlier humor was mean spirited and not meant with any sense of irony. As he became nicer and more emphatic that kind of humor probably would be hard for him to pull up again.

Dub Name Change: Not as obvious as other examples but "Tien Shinhan" is most definitely not the single name Tenshinhan. Also, some European localizations give his name as Tenshin Han, often shortening it to just Tenshin.

Enemy Mine: After King Piccolo attacks, Krillin is dead, Yamcha has a broken leg, and Goku is off trying to beat up Krillin's killer. Ergo, Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu get recruited by Roshi to gather the Dragon Balls before Piccolo gets to them.

Tenshinhan notes this as much, saying even though he acknowledges his previous actions as wrong, he still considers himself and Chiaotzu as Shen's students, and simply asking for forgiveness won't be enough.

Flight: One of the first characters in the series to fly, as it is the signature technique of his martial arts school.

Good Scars, Evil Scars: The scar on Tenshinhan's chest is a memento of his tournament battle with Taopaipai, who had hidden a knife in his cybernetics.

Handicapped Badass: He lost his left arm during his fight with Nappa. It didn't stop him from continuing the fight.

Hard Work Hardly Works: Tenshinhan is the only character among the human protagonists who has no interest in living a normal life and he spends most of his time training, even during peaceful times. Unfortunately, all of his effort is still not enough to put him in the same league as the Saiyans or Piccolo, making his usefulness against the incredibly powerful enemies the protagonists must go up against very limited.

Heel-Face Turn: Introduced as a rival trained by an evil dojo. Becomes one of Goku's best allies.

Heroic RROD: His Tri-Beam/Spirit Cannon attack, which is supposed to kill the user if used too long; nevertheless, Tenshinhan is able to master it so that it can be used repeatedly. In Z, given the exponential power rise of the opposition, it quickly becomes Tenshinhan's first-choice technique, and using it, he's even capable of pinning Semi-Perfect Cell down for a while before getting incapacitated.

Honor Before Reason: Even while Shen's pupil. When he realizes that Chiaotzu is paralyzing Goku under Shen's orders, he immediately orders him to stop because he wants to beat Goku in a fair fight, and after he does so and Shen is dealt with, he even lets Goku give him quite a beating to even things out.

Ordered to Cheat: In the the 22nd World Tournament, The Crane Hermit orders Tenshinhan to kill Goku while he's paralyzed by Chiaotzu. He refuses.

Overshadowed by Awesome: Though Tenshinhan does lose importance later on, it's still arguable that he's the strongest earthling in the series whose power is entirely his own (thus, excluding the cybernetically enhanced Androids and magically enhanced Uub). Of all the human characters, Tenshinhan has won the most battles, having defeated Yamcha, Goku, Taopaipai, a Saibaman, Jeice, and Burter (in the anime filler). That's not too bad considering he's a human.

The issue of Krillin vs. Tenshinhan as the strongest human is one of DBZ's biggest Base Breakers and continues to rage — generally, the issue is that Krillin is canonically stated as the strongest and is definitely the series' most prominent human, but Tenshinhan has more impressive feats to his name.

When fighting Nappa, Tien keeps on going after losing an arm, before dying in a Senseless Sacrifice, and later on he manages to keep Cell at bay in his Semi-Perfect form.

Later on, he proved to be one of the only survivors of Buu's Extinction Attack (along with Hercule and the other protagonists atop Kami's Lookout, who were not targeted) and managed to save Dende and Hercule's lives by deflecting one of Super Buu's energy blasts. Of course, he was in no way capable of actually fighting Buu in any capacity and proceeded to get knocked out by a single kick.

Put on a Bus: After the Cell Games, Tenshinhan had no more reason to hang out with the Z gang since Goku chose not to be revived and went into hiding with Chiaotzu. Throughout the Buu arc, he and Chiaotzu had a couple of brief appearances until Tenshinhan saved Mr. Satan and Dende from getting killed by Buu.

Papa Wolf: Around Chiaotzu most of his life as well as around Gohan during the Saiyan and Cell Saga.

Redemption Demotion: When he was first introduced as an antagonist, his powers were as great as Goku's. After he became one of the good characters, he was surpassed by Goku and, as the series developed, his powers were thoroughly outclassed by the Saiyans, Piccolo and most enemies.

Weak, but Skilled: He possesses an incredible repertoire of techniques (including growing a pair of extra arms). Indeed, several characters have copied his techniques for their own use, most notably the Solar Flare. Goku even took it a step further and turned that very attack against Tenshinhan in their rematch.

What Happened to the Mouse?: After Dende healed Tenshinhan from Buu's attack, he wasn't seen again until after the Earth was restored and everyone was revived.

You Shall Not Pass: Tenshinhan kept Cell (in his Semi-Perfect form) pinned down using his Neo Tri-Beam, so that #18 could get away and hide until the Saiyans completed their training. Note this is pretty late in the Z series, and he was useless in hand to hand combat compared to the now-Super Saiyans. Also, it was only not a Heroic Sacrifice because of Goku's instant transmission and a Senzu Bean.

Introduced in the second Tournament arc, Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu ae initially rivals to Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha (as they belong to an opposing dojo to Roshi's). The two eventually become friends to our heroes after realizing the lack of honor in their own methods. They become instrumental in the the next few arcs following their introduction, but after the Saiyan Saga Chiaotzu becomes less important (and after the Cell Saga, so does Tenshinhan). By the Cell Saga they become side characters who are mentioned and seen frequently, but rarely do anything significant.

Enemy Mine: After King Piccolo attacks, Krillin is dead, Yamcha has a broken leg and Goku is off trying to beat up Krillin's killer. Ergo, Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu get recruited by Roshi to gather the Dragon Balls before Piccolo gets to them.

Tenshinhan notes this as much, saying even though he acknowledges his previous actions as wrong, he still considers himself and Chiaotzu as the Crane Hermit's students, and a simple ask for forgiveness won't be enough.

Use Your Head: Against Krillin. Master Shen even comments that Chiaotzu's head is as hard as a diamond.

Weak, but Skilled: Uses psychic powers due to having a lower endurance than his comrades.

Weaksauce Weakness: The only way to defeat Chiaotzu's psychic attacks is by breaking his concentration. Krillin does this by asking him confusing math questions. Like 4 + 4. The one that gets to him is 9-1.

We Are Team Cannon Fodder: All the time. In the fight against Nappa, the poor little guy blew himself up and didn't make a DENT!

The Worf Effect: He loses a lot, the fight with Nappa being the prime example.

A Namekian (a race of green skinned aliens), though at the start this wasn't really known; he was the son of the self-proclaimed Demon King Piccolo, who Goku defeated in the original series. After being spat out as an egg and hatched, Piccolo tried to carry on his father's work but was defeated by Goku and allowed to live. As the series rolls into the Z saga, his evil exterior softens due to training Son Gohan, and eventually becomes a second father to the kind-hearted little boy during Goku's frequent deaths. The one-time Demon King eventually becomes one of Goku's most trusted allies, and incredibly popular amongst the fanbase.

Alien Blood: Piccolo's blood was originally red in Dragon Ball and early episodes of DBZ (it was turned green in early episodes of the original dub), but after he was established as an alien, he is shown to have purple blood, like his fellow Nameks.

Aloof Ally: He really doesn't want to be friends with any of the Z Fighters, but he eventually grows into being a straight up ally.

Although, as time goes on, this is downplayed and eventually he just starts hanging out with them. In the latest movie (which is canon) he's even a guest at Bulma's birthday party - you can't really make any I Was Just Passing Through excuses at that point. He even (badly) sang Karaoke and is a sore loser at Bingo.

He started warming up to the group as early as the Buu Saga where he took the invite to go to the World Tournament and allowed everyone to stay on the Lookout. He also showed real concern for Chi-Chi when she tried to attack Buu the first time.

Anti-Villain: In early Dragon Ball Z, he's only helping out due to an Enemy Mine situation and is happy to kill both Goku and their opponent in one shot. He still attempt to play this trope up until the Android Saga. No one buys it.

Asexuality: He expresses not understanding romance, but also in the literal biological sense.

The Atoner: Of a sort. He never expresses regret over his past actions, but definitely works off his bad karma.

He did show concern and fear when he heard that Babidi could control people through the evil in ones' heart. He even yelled at Krillin when he brought up that he used to be the Demon King. At the very least, he's not proud of his past.

The Bad Guy Wins: Although Goku beats him at first, Piccolo finally gets the chance to avenge his father/himself when he kills Goku in order to kill Raditz. Granted, the objective wasn't revenge but that was the effect.

Big Damn Heroes: Piccolo swooping in out of nowhere to rescue Gohan is so prevalent in the movies that the tenth finally tosses it a Lampshade Hanging: this time, Krillin is the one who rescues Gohan... while dressed up as Piccolo.

He even chews Goku out for not doing this against Cell when he's basically torturing Gohan, and was about to perform another one until Cell decided to stop and steal the Senzu.

Big Good: Sometimes, specially after he merged with Kami. He shows greater concern for the Earth and its people.

Brutal Honesty: He's the first one to tell Adult Gohan how ridiculous he looks in his Great Saiyaman costume.

Can't Catch Up: He lasted the longest out of all of the non-Saiyans, remaining the third or second most powerful hero all the way until Semi-Perfect Cell was born. He did get to spend time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, which at least made him much stronger than Semi-Perfect Cell, but he still fell behind because the Saiyans got to go in to the chamber twice. By the Buu saga, when the three main Saiyans have all unlocked become Super Saiyan 2 and gotten even stronger than they were at the Cell Games, Piccolo knows that he won't be of much use and retires.

The Coats Are Off: When Piccolo removes his weighted cape, some poor fool's getting a major beat down!

He is also noticably more physically adult at the start of DBZ. He was only a few years old at the end of Dragon Ball, and looked like a teenager. The change could be attributed to him growing up.

The Comically Serious: Sometimes. Especially when the other characters (particularly Goku, Goten, and Trunks) are goofing off.

Dangerously Genre Savvy: Back when he was still a villain, Piccolo fights Goku and eventually leaves him near helpless his entire body crippled save one of his arms. Remembering that Goku was still able to defeat his predecessor with the sole use of his remaining arm, Piccolo proceeds to shoot it out so he can't do the same thing. He would have won were it not for the fact that Goku had the power to fly now and intentionally kept it hidden the whole time.

Prior to his battle with Goku, when Piccolo battles Kami and Kami launches the Evil Containment Wave at Piccolo Jr. with the intention of sealing him in a bottle, Piccolo not only reverses the technique and imprisons Kami instead but also swallows the bottle that contained Kami during his match with Goku, so that if Goku were to kill him he would end up also killing Kami as well. A leaf straight out of his fathers book.

The Lancer: Both kinds—he's Goku's foil until the end of the Freeza arc, and after that he takes the role of trusted second-in-command.

Large and In Charge: The tallest protagonist, and the one most likely to lead the team into battle when Goku's not there (which is often).

Like a Badass out of Hell: A mix of type 2 and 4, near the end of GT Piccolo is forced to corrupt his soul by causing carnage in heaven in order to be sent to hell to help Goku escape to fight Super 17, but he couldn't do anything to leave (and it's implied that he didn't want to, seeing it as finally being where he belonged). With an eternity to kill and nothing else to do he decided to pick up making sure the villains didn't act up again, becoming an unofficial leader of Hell's jailers.

Necessary Drawback: The Special Beam Cannon when it was first introduce. It is so powerful that it killed Raditz, who was almost three-times more powerful than Piccolo. However, it takes five minutes for it to charge and he is defenseless during that time period. Once mastered, Piccolo can use it much faster, but it appears to be much weaker.

This is more likely an inversion, as the Special Beam Cannon isn't weaker, it's just that the enemies are much stronger to the point where it's just not as powerful as it once was despite Piccolo's mastery over it, considering it could kill Raditz, but does absolutely nothing to Cell, much like Krillin's Destructo Disk.

Nice Hat: One of the few people who can make a turban look completely bad-ass.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: If Piccolo had never told the dying Raditz about the Dragon Balls, Nappa, Vegeta and even Freeza wouldn't be going after them.

Neither of them would have existed...or at least not as they were introduced.

Speaking of which, this trope may count for the Cell arc too considering Piccolo's the one who taught him how to use his regenerative abilities, which he would then proceed to spam up until his destruction.

Noble Demon: More so after Z starts. At the beginning, he only teamed up with the protagonists to keep the Saiyans from destroying the world he wants to conquer.

No Name Given: Neither he nor Kami can remember what their original name was before the split. After they reunite, he briefly calls himself "the Namek". When Goku suggests "Kamiccolo", he quickly decides Piccolo isn't so bad.

Not Quite Dead: Had his neck broken, a hole blasted through his chest, and thrown into the ocean by Cell. He still lived and managed to heal himself before losing consciousness.

Overprotective Dad: Even when Gohan becomes far more powerful than he will ever be, Piccolo would still lay his life down to protect the boy.

Overshadowed by Awesome: But not so much that he loses plot importance. When he Can't Catch Up after the Cell Saga, he switches roles to The Mentor for the younger heroes. He gets a better deal in the movies though (if you consider them canon), where he usually at least gets to dispatch the Big Bad's Elite Mooks and, in two of them (Dead Zone and Lord Slug), he even saves the day.

By the Buu arc, not only is he God (well, he fused with God...), but he's the fourth most powerful non-fused protagonist (unless you count the Supreme Kai) and one of the top ten most powerful beings in the universe, period. Too bad that's still nothing compared to Buu, Vegeta, Gohan, Goku, the Supreme Kai, and Dabura.

Papa Wolf: Not even Freeza could withstand his wrath when he tried to murder Gohan.

Its like this, threaten the kid and the only thing that's stopping Goku from tearing you in two is Piccolo having done it before him.

Parental Substitute: To Gohan after Goku kicks it early on. Their special bond is never quite diminished and even as late as the Cell saga, Gohan still prefers to wear Piccolo-style clothing rather than Goku's.

Reformed, but Not Tamed: Even after his Heel-Face Turn, he was generally aloof and distant to the human characters, some of them considered him outright scary, while he spared his gentler side for Gohan. Shoot, he even invoked this when he acted as if the protagonists weren't his allies when he reluctantly decided to merge with Kami. He's also pretty ruthless in battle, at one point severing Dr. Gero's arm (though he originally assumed he was just an android), and bifurcating Babidi.

Team Dad: It is so worth noting that he's probably the most sensible, level-headed character in the entire series, and the other characters often defer to him in a crisis. He's the responsible one who always has a plan and is probably the most protective of Earth (after merging with Kami). Also tends to get stuck training or babysitting the younger characters.

Not to mention he's probably the smartest. After fusing with Kami (aka God), he became much more intelligent, not to say that he was stupid. It's no wonder they come to him for advice when he possesses the wisdom of God.

Gets even funnier when you realize that, technically speaking, he's one of the youngest characters. He's only four years older than Gohan — making him something like sixteen years younger than Goku! Technically speaking, he's a mind that is hundreds of years old inside of a much younger body.

Theme Naming: After a musical instrument which he (his dad) and his siblings are all named after.

Heroic Bastard: At least, Bulma and Vegeta aren't husband and wife when Trunks is born. They are (in the normal timeline) by the time the Majin Buu Saga rolls around. In Future Trunks' world, they never get that chance.

Only Sane Man: Future Trunks in the Android Saga as he was the one most concerned with destroying the villains as quickly as possible. Then main timeline Trunks takes this to Butt Monkey proportions in the first arc of GT.

Future TimelineWhen Trunks is first introduced, he is a traveler from an alternate future where Androids have destroyed much of the world. He comes to the main timeline to warn Goku and his friends of their fate and then sticks around to make sure none of it comes to pass.

Adaptational Badass: When he first shows up. In the manga, he's only about as strong as Goku was on Namek when he fought Freeza. In the anime, he defeats two guys who are stronger than Goku was on Namek. In a Curb-Stomp Battle.

To clarify: in the manga, Freeza was always inferior to Super Saiyan Goku despite putting up a decent fight, and King Cold was weaker than Freeza. Mecha Freeza was stronger than normal Freeza, but not quite as strong as Goku. When Trunks showed up, he pretty much instantly ended Freeza when he was distracted rather than let him power-up, so Freeza never really got the chance to put up a fight. In the anime, Freeza puts up a better fight against Super Saiyan Goku on Namek, but was still clearly weaker, stamina issues aside. Mecha Freeza was supposedly stronger and didn't have the stamina problems and King Cold was also made out to be stronger than Mecha Freeza. Unlike in the manga, Trunks actually lets Freeza power up... and despite Mecha Freeza being stronger than Goku was on Namek, Trunks completely humiliates him with no effort and kills his stronger father soon afterwards. Although, he didn't exactly let King Cold power-up, choosing to kill him quickly in both the manga and anime.

Beware the Nice Ones: Like his mentor, Gohan, he's shy, polite, kind, and values the sanctity of life. Also like his mentor, if you violate that sanctity in front of him, he will do his damndest to end you. And, as other tropes attest, he's perfectly capable of ruthlessness.

Breakout Character: His importance in video games is something to be amazed with. That's where his attacks got named in the first place. In Final Bout he's treated as a separate character even tough there's other two grown-up Trunks in the game already. In Shin Budokai and Heroes, Trunks is The Protagonist and a Supporting Protagonist respectively. Also the latest video games are fond of giving the Super Saiyan 3 transformation to other Saiyans besides Goku but they're just thrown in with no proper build up. Trunks' transformation, however, is an important plot ticket in Heroes and got an animation just for it.

During the Cell Saga, in Japan's Character poll Trunks ranked higher than both Vegeta and Piccolo.

Bless him, he tries to fight according to "common sense". He does have a sense of honor, but that's for friendly sparring matches or tournament bouts only; when it comes to saving innocent lives, he'll do whatever works. Unfortunately for him, he's in a Shōnen series.

That said, when he is stronger than his opponent, it does not last long. Future Trunks is not interested in a fair fight, holding back, or challenges. This is justified as a byproduct of the Bad Future he grew up in.

Seen clearly against Freeza. Instead of letting him power up to 100% like Goku did, he cut him in half the minute he was distracted. In the manga at least.

He's also the only who thinks to attack Cell during his Transformation Sequence. It didn't work (apparently transforming generates a heck of ki barrier), but points for trying.

Cool Sword: Apparently the one Tapion used, assuming Wrath of the Dragon is canon and that it's the same sword used by Main Timeline Trunks.

Curb-Stomp Battle: First to Freeza and King Cold. Then gets to perform an ultra satisfying one on the Androids and later on Cell after returning to his own time.

A very rare heroic example. Future Trunks is incredibly more pragmatic than the rest of the heroes. Many of the heroes will hold back for fun, take on enemies for the challenge, or avoid killing. Trunks more often than not goes in with his full power from the start, not giving his enemies a chance to prepare, and goes for the killing blow whenever possible, as early as possible and does not call his attacks during a fight. He's also the only character in the franchise who ever thinks to attack the villain during his Transformation Sequence (it didn't work, but points for the idea). It's justified when you take his backstory into account where fighting has always been a matter of life-and-death for him, never for sport.

When Future Trunks set out alongside Krillin to destroy the main timeline's incarnation of Cell and the underground lab, Future Trunks searches the lab prior to destroying it for any leftover data or information about the Androids which could prove vital and uncovers blueprints of Android 17, eventually leading to the discovery of the Android's weakness: a Shut Down Remote.

Death by Irony: When he fails to kill Cell in his Ascended Saiyan form, he says that Cell can destroy him. Cell spares him on the prospect that he could get stronger before the tournament. Trunks becomes stronger in the hyperbolic time chamber and sees Cell destroyed when Cell self-destructs. When Cell is reconstructed, Trunks is immediately killed by his first attack.

Earn Your Happy Ending: After growing up in an apocalyptic world, seeing your mentor and the closest thing to a big brother die, fleeing everyday from the killing machines responsible for all of the above, going back in time to a world where the heroes are still alive and to find a solution to make his timeline better, maybe earning the respect of the father he never knew, and confronting another horrible killing machine from the future (even dying briefly). With the Earth saved, he finally earns his father's respect, returns to the future to exact sweet revenge on the androids, and finally wait to defeat Cell, saving his world and allowing for the world to rebuild itself.

Friend to All Living Things: Anime and Bojack Unbound movie only, where he's a hit with the squirrel population and pink alien rodents at least...

Future Badass: Probably the Most Triumphant Example in manga and anime. He wiped out both Frieza and his father King Cold, who up until that time were considered the supreme Big Bads of the universe, on his first appearance.

Genius Bruiser: A variant. His fighting style is mostly brute force, but he's quite intelligent out of battle.

Good Is Not Soft: While Trunks is normally polite, caring, and greatly values life, he is also very practical-minded and can be ruthless when the situation calls for it. He rarely speaks or engages in boastful behavior during combat, and he always fights with his full strength, seeking not the defeat of his enemies, but their deaths. Notable examples of this aspect of his personality at work include attacking his father Vegeta with a powerful blast because Vegeta was trying to stop him from killing Cell before he became Perfect and, before accepting him as an ally, powering up in front of a damaged Android 16 in order to show him that he is the stronger one of the two and that, should Android 16 ever step out of line, Trunks will destroy him without hesitation.

Heroic BSOD: When he fails to defeat Perfect Cell with the realization his Ultra Super Saiyan form is too slow, he gives up all hope and promptly tells Cell to kill him. Luckily, Cell was more interested in the Super Saiyans' sudden enormous strength to oblige.

Hurting Hero: Grew up in a world ruled by two merciless androids, found his mentor Gohan lying dead in the rain, and then fought the androids himself to no avail.

Mighty Glacier: In his Ultra Super Saiyan state. He's only "slow" when compared to the other characters, but that was enough for Cell to beat him handily.

Mr. Fanservice: It's been theorized that a major reason people ship Vegeta/Bulma (which, when it was first written into the manga, would have been a Crack Pairing of epic proportions) is just to make sure he's born. Readership with women went up when he was introduced.

Nice Guy: In contrast to his brash, egotistical, arrogant, and violent counterpart raised by Vegeta, Trunks raised by Bulma alone turns out to be a well-mannered, gentle, introspective, sensitive, and kind sweetheart.

Pragmatic Hero: One of the few good guys in DBZ' that will flat out try to kill the villain as quickly as possible, as opposed to holding back or finding some reason to spare them.

Sacrificial Lion: He was this to show that not only was Cell BACK, he was Super Perfect and that anyone could bite it with Goku already being dead.

Set Right What Once Went Wrong: An unusual example in that he's not trying to correct his own timeline, but make an alternate one where the Bad Future never happened. Although he is looking for a way to save what's left of earth in his timeline.

Smug Smiler: Something that gets overshadowed by his overall character but Trunks, when he believes victory is assured, tends to drop some pretty epic smirks as seen when fighting Freeza and Cell in his future. Perhaps he’s not that different from his father after all. To the point that Vegeta has a dream of a Super Saiyan Trunks giving him one◊.

Sphere of Destruction: His Heat Dome Attack makes one around him. Also his Burning Attack, which involves him flailing his arms around wildly first.

Stepford Smiler: Trunks was definitely this at the beginning of the Android Saga when he met the protagonists with smiles after defeating Freeza and King Cold. They had no idea where he was from or the fact he's a Hurting Hero who arrived to prevent their deaths.

Tell Me About My Father: Bulma's kindly-meant whitewashing of Vegeta's personality paid off with some unexpected dividends later on.

Took a Level in Badass: Wasn't badass enough at first to take on the androids of his timeline but then spent time training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Tragic Dream: He wants to correct the primary timeline because he can't fix his own one beyond rebuilding after the apocalypse.

Troubled, but Cute: Twenty years of fleeing for your life from two homicidal androids has left Future Trunks emotionally scarred and serious.

Unskilled, but Strong: Although Future Trunks is disciplined and a Combat Pragmatist, since he didn't have anybody to train him after Future Gohan died he doesn't have a full grasp of fundamental fighting concepts. Cell mocked him for relying on brute force and for not noticing the flaw of the Ultra Super Saiyan form (it increases strength but decreases speed and stamina, making it almost useless against an equal or superior fighter). His lack of skill also may be because his mentor Future Gohan, who was even less experience than present Gohan, tended to rely on his raw power than technical skill.

You Are Already Dead: Does this to Android 14 in the Super Android 13 movie with his sword and without saying a word.

Main Series TimelineAfterward, the Trunks of the main timeline is revealed to be somewhat of a daredevil and thrill seeker (partially thanks to his father's influence), usually being the one to make the decisions between Goten and himself. He mellows out by the GT saga though and is a bit more rational—he has to be when he's the CEO of Capsule Corporation at only 23.

The second son of Goku and Chi-Chi, born some time after the Cell Games. Has a very childlike naivety not unlike Goku when he was little; though also has Gohan's childhood crybaby tendencies. Between Trunks and himself, he's surprisingly the voice of reason, though he usually goes along with the former's ideas. By GT, he settles down to live more or less as a normal teenager, worrying more about girls than fighting.

Adorkable: Well mannered, naïve, and so dorky he's the only person who finds Gohan's embarrassing superhero costume to be "cool."

Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Like his older brother and father, he's easy-going, innocent, and inherited his father's naivety. However, like everyone else in his family, he's a cute bruiser who holds the title for the youngest Super Saiyan.

Strong Family Resemblance: When first introduced, he looked almost exactly like Goku did back at the start of Dragon Ball, without the tail and wearing longer sleeves. He later mentions he grew his hair specifically because he was sick of looking identical to his dad.

Gotenks (ゴテンクス; Gotenkusu)

When Goku returned from the afterlife with the knowledge of the Fusion Dance but no eligible partner to perform it with, Goten and Trunks were taught it, and their mothers came up with the combined name Gotenks. The result combines Goten's childishness with Trunks' brattiness to create one of the weirdest and goofiest fighters in the series, the kind who would come up with the Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack.

Awesome but Impractical: Pretty much all of the attacks he comes up with are flashy but ineffective. The Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack initially seems to be very powerful and effective, but when Buu later attempts to use it against Vegetto, he quickly demonstrates the attack's fatal flaw (the ghosts can be detonated from a safe distance with ki blasts) and subsequently mocks Buu for thinking an attack dreamed up by two kids could beat him.

Bratty Half-Pint: Even still good, he has a pretty bratty attitude, especially considering his proud behavior.

Composite Character: Literally. He combines features of Goten and Trunks... though he ends up looking kinda like a chibi Vegeta, because Trunks very obviously has mostly Vegeta's facial features, so once you add black hair...

Fearless Fool: Like Vegeta, Gotenks is very arrogant and charges into battle with enemies he can't defeat. This is played straight in his first appearance, when he tries to rush into battle with Majin Buu, and gets his ass handed to him.

Took a Level in Badass: When he reaches SSJ3 and began to take his battle with Buu more seriously. He went from being barely a match against Buu, to overpowering him.

Took a Level in Jerkass: Son Goten was not an egotist; all that arrogant and overconfident traits therefore all comes from Trunks.

Unskilled, but Strong: He's one of the strongest characters in the entire series, only behind Vegetto, Gohan, and Goku, but he's also by far the most naive. He thinks it's better to showoff than actually saving people and most of his techniques falls into Awesome but Impractical. His lack of experience and self-control caused him to lose to an opponent that he overpowered (his fusion broke before he could kill Buu). Despite his power, he's still the merger of two children.

Called out several times, mostly by Piccolo, for his careless actions that nearly gets him killed. Since he is literally the last hope on Earth, him dying would be the end of everyone.

Get another one from Piccolo for faking being weak just to show off. This caused Piccolo and him to be trapped in the Time Chamber, which led to Buu escaping and killing everyone.

Voice of the Legion: Non-creepy example, he talks with both Goten and Trunk's voices simultaneously. This also applies to Gogeta and Vegetto.

The Worf Effect: Poor guy got his ass handed to him by Beerus in the new movie.

Gogeta (ゴジータ; Gojīta)

The combined form of Goku and Vegeta using the Fusion Dance. He debuted in movie 12, Fusion Reborn, as a last ditch effort to defeat Janemba, and it worked. He shows up again in GT as a rather goofy Super Saiyan 4 to fight against Omega Shenron.

Badass: There's a very good reason this guy's limited by time constraints; the fusion of Goku and Vegeta makes him the single strongest fighter in the series, capable of taking down a demon made of pure evil in seconds in his first appearance. Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta takes this even further, as his power exceeds that of Omega Shenron. His goofiness is the only thing preventing him from ending the fight in five seconds.

Vegetto: "I'm no ordinary candy — I'm a jawbreaker! The strongest piece of candy there is!" (The "jawbreaker" is only part of his boast; he is actually turned into a coffee candy, noted both in the English dub and Japanese original.)

Barrier Warrior: He made a ki barrier around to protect himself from being properly absorbed by Buu.

Captain Ersatz: Of Gogeta. As Akira Toriyama mentions in an interview, he wanted Goku and Vegeta to fuse, but didn't want to step on the toes of Fusion Reborn, which was already in-development at the time. He took the earrings that Kaiōshin had been wearing all along, changed the way the fusion worked (permanent vs. temporary; melded-outfit vs. fancy vest; composite vs. original attacks), and Vegetto was born. Toriyama did later sketch Gogeta for the movie DVD box set in Japan, though.

Composite Character: About halfway between Goku and Vegeta in height, frame, and hairdo. By some strange coincidence, the result looks like Gohan did during the same saga. He also has composite attacks. For example, the "Final Kamehameha".

Guile Hero: Him manipulating Super Buu and frustrating him into acting desperately was the main plan to saving his sons, friend and the whole universe.

No Sell: Baring Buu's absorbing technique, EVERYTHING. And if he didn't plan on getting absorbed to free the others he probably would have dealt with that too.

Portmanteau Name: In its Japanese spelling, it combines the first two syllables of Vegeta and the last two syllables of Kakarotto.

Shaggy Dog Story: The whole reason he wanted to get absorbed was so that he could destroy Buu without his absorbed victims dying. But this just lead to Buu taking on his most deadly form, who then proceeded to kill all of them anyway (along with the planet). As a bonus, the ordeal dissolved the fusion, leaving them much weaker. Of course, it doesn't make the hero look good if he's directly responsible for the death of his friends/children, even when Death Is Cheap.

Smug Super: The most powerful being in the manga by far and he's very well aware of it. Unlike Gotenks though, it never gets in the way of accomplishing his goals.

Spell My Name with an "S": "Vegetto" (Bandai's spelling) or "Vegito" (Funimation's spelling)? Neither one makes sense in most English adaptations, since his name is a portmanteau of Vegeta's name with Goku's Saiyan name, which is commonly romanized as "Kakarot" instead of the literal "Kakarotto". Viz attempted to reconcile this by changing his name to Vegerot in the English manga, but then they changed it back to Vegetto in the Viz Big reprint (although, one has to wonder why they didn't went with the more obvious "Vegetot").

Story-Breaker Power: He is the strongest character to ever show up (not including GT). Old Kai states that Potara Fusion is stronger than Fusion Dance (Gogeta) and even if it wasn't, there's no half hour time limit so he could outlast anyone.

Too Powerful to Live: If this guy stayed around, the plot would have basically ended in five minutes. And you would've written off the main character and his main foil at the same time...

Voice of the Legion: Except in the Ocean dub, where he is voiced by Brian Drummond (Using a higher-pitched version of his Vegeta voice).

You Fight Like a Cow: Most well known for this. He combines Goku's sense of humour with Vegeta's arrogance and wit, to both beat and mock the living daylights out of Super Buu.

Batman Gambit: Of course, this is all part of his plan: getting Buu pissed off and desperate enough to absorb him, so he can free everyone absorbed by Buu.

Xanatos Gambit: The entire battle between Vegetto and Super Buu was this. It didn't matter what Super Buu threw at Vegetto as he had a back up plan or counter strategy for anything. Any outcome in that fight would have suited Vegetto, if Super Buu turns Vegetto into candy, Vegetto still retains his power, as he is much stronger than Super Buu, and it just makes Vegetto a harder target to destroy, if Super Buu absorbs Vegetto then it becomes easier for Vegetto to remove his sons and friends from Super Buu's body and depower him and if Super Buu tries to kill Vegetto... Vegetto would instantly slaughter him. Of course, while that option would be just as effective, it would have been personally immoral for Vegetto as he would be unconsciously murdering his own sons and friends. And while they could be brought back to life with the Dragon Balls, Vegetto would still have somewhat of a heavy conscience for what he did.

The daughter of Gohan and Videl, introduced at the tail end of the original series though given more of a fleshed out character in the anime-only GT series. Very much a tomboy and thrill-seeker, willing to prove she's just as tough as her grandfather when given the chance. But not without a soft side either.

Affirmative Action Girl: While Dragon Ball always had a few female characters scattered throughout the supporting cast, the anime-only Dragon Ball GT was the only time a girl regularly joined in on the world-saving: Pan.

Badass Adorable: At this point, it's pretty much safe to say that this trope must run in the Son bloodline.

Child Prodigy: Despite being only nine, she is already very powerful, and the Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files state she has the potential to transform, and imply she might become a type of Super Saiyan never seen before.

Cute Bruiser: Just because she is a cute little girl doesn't mean she won't kick your ass.

The Cutie: As a four year old she was seen as cute and bubbly and full of energy. This rarely appears in GT though.

Theme Naming: Pan is Akira Toriyama's Crowning Moment of Awesome in theme names. The obvious facet is that "pan" is a Portuguese loan word for "bread," punning off her dad's name, which means rice (and if you want, you can stretch the pun: Chi-Chi can mean "milk" or "breast milk."). Pan is also a satyr in Greek mythology whose imagery was borrowed for the Christian devil. Her mother's name is an anagram of "devil," and her maternal grandfather is Mr. Satan! Pan could also be a reference to the Pan Pipes in honor of Piccolo.

It gets even better: In Greek, "pan" is a prefix meaning "all." So Pan is, in fact, named after all of these characters.

Her name might also be a reference to her Saiyan heritage, as the genus of the Chimpanzee species is called "Pan".

Pan may also be an abbreviation of panties or pants, in honor of the clothing-based names of Bulma's family.

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